


a strange four-color love

by Knightblazer



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Introspection, Late Night Writing, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 02:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2565467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knightblazer/pseuds/Knightblazer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A musing of middle spaces in bed, and the arrangements of it thereof.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a strange four-color love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [floodplain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/floodplain/gifts), [starkly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/gifts).



> I LIVE. Life got pretty crazy and things are still not settled, but its better than before. Also I'm doing NaNoWriMo again this year but for the first time, its for an original story. (le gasp!)
> 
> ...still doesn't stop me from writing fanfic though because how do you original story. 
> 
> Anyway, this is dedicated to Lex and Dee, my awesome Tony and Pepper because they are the best and I owe them OT3 fic since ages ago. You guys are the best. <3

When Tony wakes up, he finds himself being cared.

He’s in the middle of the bed tonight, having claimed it earlier before tuning it for the night. It had been a fun night in, with Bruce cooking and Pepper having brought some delicious pastries back from that one shop she knew he liked best. The food was good, but the sex was better and Tony fondly remembers every moment of it. There had been Bruce moaning loudly as he fucked into Tony and Pepper giving him all the usual praise as he ate her out on top of him. It was always good, being able to give them all this pleasure, to let them feel good with him as they all crashed into orgasm together.

Tony pauses in his thoughts when he feels Bruce snuffling against his back, unconsciously wriggling closer to him. He nuzzles Pepper’s neck, pressing a kiss to the back of it as she shifts in her sleep, letting out a wordless murmur.

He pulls away after that, looking up to the ceiling. From what he can tell it’s sometime in the middle of the night and morning is probably still a long time away. The sky is still dark, and in the silence and said darkness it’s almost as if they’re in a little world of their own, away from everything else. And perhaps that isn’t so far from the truth at all. 

Bruce mutters Tony’s name and he looks down now, watching Bruce as he sleeps, apparently dreaming about him some way or another. He wonders what kind of dream it is, and if it’ll turn to a nightmare—it’s happened more than once. He hopes this isn’t one of those incidents. Bruce deserves good dreams, just as he deserves so many more good things in his life. Bruce may say that Tony is a good man but really, who was he kidding? Bruce was the good one here. More than just good, really; he’s such an amazing person and Tony hopes that Bruce can actually see it one day. 

Not for the first time Tony thinks just how lucky he is to have both Pepper and Bruce in his life now. Just the fact that he had Pepper—amazing, fantastic Pepper—sticking around after everything was already a miracle, but to even have Bruce staying as well was even better. Tony had always thought that he would get bored or tired of having the same people to date and sleep with every night, but as the months had shown, it wasn’t the case at all. If anything, he only found himself thankful that he could have this each and every day. It would always be his fortune to have them.

Pepper turns over now, facing Tony as her arm rests on his hip, and he glances at her now, her beautiful face relaxed in sleep, ginger hair falling around her shoulders. He wonders why it took so long for him to notice this amazing woman at his side and for a moment regrets having not seen it sooner. But perhaps it was for the best; he knew that Pepper would have never loved the Tony Stark of the past. She had been with him all the way, and for that he owes her so many debts he could never repay.

Both Bruce and Pepper are curled up with him in this bed, their warmth combining together into a cosy huddle Tony doesn’t ever want to leave. The both of them always put up with him and give him everything he asks for and always keep taking care of him. Little things like making sure he ate or slept and comforting him after a nightmare—without either of them now, Tony wonders how he’d ever get to this point in his life.

A yawn comes out from him and he sighs after it comes out, smacking his lips as he returns his gaze to the ceiling once more. Perhaps later on in the day he’ll try to give them something to show his gratitude. He has too much money to burn, anyway.

That decided, Tony settles back down and closes his eyes, letting the caring warmth of his loved ones lull him back to sleep.

* * *

When Pepper wakes up, she finds herself being comforted.

As things usually are when she sleeps in the middle, she wakes up in the middle of the night to find both Tony and Bruce cuddled right up next to her on each side. On one side was Tony who had half-wrapped himself around her like a human octopus, while on the other there was Bruce who had tucked himself lower against her chest, a hand resting on her hip. In the quietness of the night, she could hear the both of them breathing deeply as they slumbered deeply in their sleep. It was a calming thing to hear, considering the long history of nightmares both men had. 

Not that she wasn’t susceptible to nightmares herself; there were days where she dreamed of hearing Tony’s death in Afghanistan, of him never coming out from the portal that had ripped open in New York. Of Aldrich Killian and his terrible deeds, and of Bruce running away, never coming back to them. None of them were ever pleasant, and the worse ones would stick with her for the rest of the day, haunting her waking hours as she went about SI doing her job.

But both Tony and Bruce always seemed to know what to do on dark days like these. Tony would go and order her favourite takeout, and Bruce would do something or other to help her feel better. Sometimes it’d be a massage, or maybe a pedicure, manicure or both. Bruce had been surprisingly good with it, and she’d never forget the time when he gave her his own custom made nail polish for her. It still remains as one of her favourite gifts to this day.

They knew what to do to help her almost all the time, but Pepper wishes she could do the same in return. For Tony she at least had years of experience to work off, but sometimes for Bruce it was hard. He was so different from Tony, but yet similar at the same time. A wonderful man whose genius was only surpassed by his humility, who she wished could sometimes see the good in himself. The way he constantly regarded himself as somebody not worthy of her or Tony was just sad, like the sorrow that sometimes flashed in his eyes which Bruce always tried to hide whenever he’s with them.

She looks down at Bruce as he sleeps, his face clear of the worry that usually haunts him. She strokes his hair gently, smiling at the way he snuffles against her chest. On her other side she can feel Tony trying to cuddle closer as well, both men trapping her in the middle with no way to go.

Not that she’d ever want to go away. She can’t think of anywhere she’d be but to be here, with the two most amazing men she’s ever known and has ever loved. There are days where it’s still surreal for her, knowing that there’s somebody she loves as much as she loves Tony, a man who is just as amazing but equally difficult at the same time. This whole life she has now is pretty surreal, really, but then again that’s what she gets for dating two superheroes.

Tony sighs against shoulder and Pepper turns to him now, giving him a light pat from where she can reach him and kisses into his hair before letting herself settle back into sleep. The night is still long, and she has work tomorrow, and being able to sleep with them like this is always something she loves most. 

She settles back down and closes her eyes, letting the comforting warmth of her loved ones lull her back to sleep.

* * *

When Bruce wakes up, he finds himself being protected.

It takes a moment for him to realize where he is after he rouses from sleep, mostly because it’s dark and he hadn’t even known he had fallen asleep. The last few days must have tired him out more than he thought it did. When he tries to move, he realizes he’s been more or less pinned down by the two other bodies at each of his side, and it doesn’t take a genius to realize who they are.

Tony and Pepper. They must have found him asleep and decided to join him. Bruce feels a little bit embarrassed about it since there had been plans for something when they returned from their gala, but with him being asleep it must have been out of the picture. He’ll have to make up for it with breakfast later in the morning. 

Breakfast. The thought of it makes him pause for a bit. Even now, sometimes it still scares him how easy everything had slotted in with Pepper and Tony. After Harlem and Betty he had been convinced that it was best for him to just stay away from any affairs of the heart, that it would be safer if he kept his distance from everyone… but yet Tony and Pepper had persisted. When he ran away they waited until he came back and even forgave him, even though he never deserved their forgiveness. He never deserved anything they gave him.

He still waits for the day where Pepper and Tony will be tired on him and move on. It’s always easier to expect the end, because then it won’t hurt as much, but at the same time he never wants it to end. His days with Tony and Pepper are some of the best he’s had in his life and he’ll never admit it aloud but he had come to depend on them, which is something that shouldn’t have happened. He doesn’t want to depend on them for his own well-being. It’s unfair to them. 

But once again, Tony and Pepper tell him otherwise. They tell him that they’ll never be tired of him, that they’ll always love him and keep him safe and god, Bruce can’t help but believe them. Because they’ve never lied to him, and because he knows that they do really love him even though he’s always been so difficult and hurt them more than once. But they always forgive him and they always take care of him… and after all the years of having to fend for himself, having people who truly care for him is just… nice.

With Tony and Pepper, Bruce can’t help but feel safe. They protect him from the things he never has protection against and always takes such good care of him. He’s indebted to them for all that they’ve done, and for as long as he can be with them he’ll do his best to make it up somehow, for everything back then and now and also in the future. 

He wriggles down a little and feels the welcoming warmth of them all together under the sheets. He can hear Tony snoring quietly from where he is and the warmth of Pepper cuddled close to him, both of those things making him smile. Tonight is a good night still, all things considered. He really will have to make it up to them later.

Bruce settles back down and closes his eyes, letting the protective warmth of his loved ones lull him back to sleep.

* * *

Some days Tony takes the middle, and there is care.

Some days Pepper takes the middle, and there is comfort.

Some days Bruce takes the middle, and there is protection. 

Other days things aren’t so clear cut; sometimes Tony takes the middle and there is comfort instead, or Bruce takes it for care. Even Pepper needs it sometimes for other things besides comfort, and on some days it’s just a matter of who ends up there first. 

But regardless of whoever’s in the middle, there is always one thing that matters most: that there is love, and all of them can feel it.


End file.
